Role Responsibility

Reporting into the Estates Supervisor, the Caretaker is responsible for:

• Taking a proactive approach to the maintenance of the site by identifying areas for improvement and taking ownership to ensure remedial action is carried out.
• Playing a full part in the day-to-day maintenance of the site, assisting the team with maintenance requests from the Estates Helpdesk, such as:

 - re-lamping across the site

 - general maintenance (including both routine preventative and reactive)

 - routine flushing of water services, temperature checks

 - minor repairs and minor jobs (notice boards, hanging pictures etc)

 - attending to blocked drainage

• Recording and collecting monthly meter readings for gas and electricity services.
• Ensuring storage areas used by the Estates Team are kept clean and tidy at all times.
• Assisting team members in various maintenance jobs as requested across the site.
• Carrying out any other duties as requested by the Director of Estates and Estates Supervisor.

Daily Tasks (including but are not limited to):

• At 7.30am, putting out all parking notification cones at the junction of Vincent Square and Douglas Street.
• Taking in the bread and milk delivery and deliver to the kitchen; put out milk for break time.
• Providing cover for the Road Crossing Officer when required.
• Putting out benches and chairs for assembly and the projector and anything else that is needed.
• Replacing benches and chairs in the storage cupboards at the end of assembly.
• Checking and replacing any light bulbs throughout the School.
• Taking deliveries to various departments using the trolley and / or the lift to reduce manual handling.
• Ensuring all outside areas (including the courtyard) are kept clean, and the front steps are swept daily.
• Laying out chairs and dining-room tables for lunch time.
• Cleaning up the hall after lunch and putting tables away before the start of the next lesson.
• When there is a whole-school mailing, taking heavy postal sacks to the Post Office.
• For parents’ meetings, setting up chairs in the hall and a table in the foyer after School.
• Laying out the theatre as necessary for plays / concerts and when necessary the dining hall for receptions.
• Assisting with general lifting and moving around the School, Sports Centre and Vincent Square.

This job description is not exhaustive, and employees are required to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service, which may change at short notice. Any permanent amendments to this job description will be made after consultation with the jobholder.

Hours of work

This a full-time position with limited weekend working. There are two Caretakers located at the Under School. The hours of work will be as such that are necessary to perform the duties of the role, but core hours will be shifts of either 7.30am to 4.30pm or 10.30am to 7.30pm, Monday to Friday. You will be expected to attend key school events.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the attached person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster Under School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Package Description

Required for: as soon as possible.

Location: Vincent Square - Westminster Under School

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: £27,912 per annum

The deadline for applications is midday on Wednesday 28th February 2024. Interviews will follow shortly after the closing date.

About the School

Working at Westminster Under School

Westminster Under School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 292 pupils, 43 teaching staff and 50 support staff.

Westminster Under School is a friendly and welcoming place to work. There is a real sense of community here and staff members quickly become part of the rhythm of life, both inside and outside the classroom. Social events are regular and varied, with plenty of opportunity to socialise outside working hours. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending a concert or a sports fixture.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster Under School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster Under School is a great environment for happy and purposeful pupils, and for all the staff who support them. Our aim is to produce well-rounded individuals with a love of learning and an enthusiasm for life, and who relish coming into School each day. All members of staff play an important role in ensuring that day-to-day processes at the School run smoothly, and in turn helping each and every pupil to enjoy and benefit from all that the School has to offer.

The Under School is a day school with approximately 292 pupils aged between 7 and 13. The School was founded in 1943 in the precincts of Westminster School in Little Dean’s Yard, just behind Westminster Abbey. The 17 boys with whom it began rapidly became 60 in  number and by 1950 there were 80 boys in the Under School. The boys had to compete for space with the senior school pupils who had returned from evacuation at the end of the war, but in 1951 the Under School acquired its own premises in Eccleston Square. Numbers of pupils continued to rise during the 1960s and 1970s and in 1981 the School moved once again to its present site overlooking the Westminster playing fields in Vincent Square. A stone’s throw from the same Square is the striking Art Deco Sports Hall, which is used by both Westminster Under and Westminster Great School pupils.

To this day, the Under School enjoys a strong and important bond with Westminster Great School. Both schools foster a deep sense of the importance of independent thought and the ethos of a liberal education, giving them a unique shared identity. It is usual for Under School pupils to be offered a place at the Great School, and the vast majority accept their offers, continuing on until they leave the School in Year 13.

Westminster School